Container



May 31, 1960 R. N. ElcHoRN 2,938,623

CONTAINER Filed April 30. 1957 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 A TTORNEV May 31, 1960Filed April 30, 1957 R. N. EICHORN CONTAINER 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 May 31,1960 R. N. ElcHoRN 2,938,623

CONTAINER Y Filed April so, 1957 s sheets-sheet s 4mined number ofcards.

nited States Patent CONTAINER Robert N. Eichorn, Endicott, N.Y.,assignor to International Business Machines Corporation, New York, N.Y.,a corporation of New York Filed Apr. 30, 1957, Ser. No. 656,022

6 Ciaims. (Cl. 20,6-60) requirements and therefore it is very desirableto have adequate containers for these cards during shipment and storageto prevent damage to the cards. Briey, an adequate container would beone which 'contains a predetermined number of cards in `a manner thatthe edges l of the cards would not be damaged, that the cards would notwarp or curl, that the cards would be easily accessible and that thecards would not be exposed unnecessarily to the atmosphere.

Attempts to provide a single adequate container heretofore have beenrather unsuccessful and at best unf satisfactory to the trade. The paperstock used for the manufacture of the tabulating cards generally isallowed to vary in caliper within tolerable limits and it is necessaryto accommodate this variation in card caliper Where a predeterminednumber of cards are to be within a container. For example, if an`acceptable. tolerance is plus or minus .0004 inch and it is desired tohave all cartons contain 2000 cards, it would be necessary to .provide acontainer which could accommodate the variance in capacity which couldoccur under the tolerances indicated in order to compactly contain thepredeter- Since if the cards are not compactly contained, damage willoccur during shipment.'

An obvious solution to the problem would be to provide a containerhaving a capacity to contain a given number of cards having a maximumtolerable caliper. Any variance from the maximum tolerable caliper couldbe accommodated by either putting in more cards than the order requiresor filling up the void space created by smaller caliper cards with shimstock. In either event, whether the carton would be lled with extracards or with shim stock the operation would become quite costly.

Hence it is a principal object of this invention to provide a variablecapacity container for retaining varying caliper articles in a mannerthat the articles will not be damaged by handling of the container or byexposure to the elements. 1 A further object of this invention is toprovide an inexpensive variable capacity container.

A still further object of this invention is to provide avariable-capacity container which is easily and quickly assembled forfilling and closure.

Another further object of this invention is to provide an improvedvariable capacity container that does not require separate means forsecuring the container against collapsing. 1

Still another object of this invention is to provide an l.improvedvariable capacity container that can be maintained in a closed conditionwithout separate closing means.

The requirements of a container for articles such as tabulating cardsdiier as to whether the cards are be'- ing shipped or whether the cardsare being retained in the container for le purposes. While the containeris in transit, accessibility to the cards is of little importance,however, protection of the cards from damage is of major importance.When the container is being used as a file, accessibility to the cardsis of considerable importance as well as protection of the cards fromdamage. Of course, it is highly Vdesirable to have a single containerwhich will satisfy these conditions.

Accordingly, it is still another object of this invention to provide avariable capacity container which provides maximum protection to thearticles contained therein during shipment of the containers and toprovide greater accessibility to the articles4 during storage.

Damage to the articles such as tabulating cards will be reducedaccording to the tightness or density of packing the articles.

Therefore, it is still a further object of this invention to provide avariable capacity container which will compactly or densely contain apredetermined num-ber of articles which are allowed to vary in caliper.l

f The articles such as tabulating cards are produced at a very rapidrate and since it is desirable to package these articles as they arebeing produced it would. be -advantageous to have a container whichcould be ',quickly assembled and readied for shipment; whereas aftershipment it may be additionally desirable to modify the assembly of thecontainer in a manner which could have been done in the originalassembly but whichinvolves moretime. Hence to increase the over-al1desirable characteristics of the container, the assembly can be furthermodified after shipment to enhance the storage facilities of thecontainer.

Therefore a still further object of this invention is to provide avariable capacity container which can be assembled for lling and bereadied for shipment very rapidly and subsequently can additionally bemodified to become more suitable for storage or file purposes.

Other objects of the invention will be pointed out in the followingdescription and claims and illustratedin the accompanying drawings,which disclose, by way tof examples, the principle of the invention andthe'best mode, which has been contemplated, of applying that principle.

In the drawings:

Fig. l is a plan view of the blank used in forming section A of thecontainer.

Fig. 2 is a plan view of the blank used in forming sec'- tion B of thecontainer.

Fig. 3 is a perspective view of the container as it would 'appear in itsassembled form for shipping; however with the cards removed and with thecover open.

Fig 4 is a left side elevation of the container asit would appear in itsassembled form for shipping.

, Fig. 5 is a perspective View of the sections A andB withthe foldshaving been made for assembling the container in a form for shipping.

Fig. 6 is a perspective view of the assembled container having beenfilled with cards and showing one of the end iiaps being folded inward,the other end flap having been folded.

F ig. 7 is a fragmentary View in full line of the insertable end panelas it would appear if removed from the carton shown in Fig. 5. l

lFig. 8 is a perspective view of the container assembled in an alternateform, that is, withV the locking ears folded inward and the end portionbeing folded downward 180 and with the wing elements locked with sidesof slideable bottom portion.

Fig. 9 is a perspective View of the container assembled in an alternateform, that is, with the locking ears folded inward 90 and the endportion folded downward 90 and with the other wing elements locking withthe locking ears.

VThecontaner or carton comprises two sections A and `B which are madefrom blanks illustrated in Figs. Vl and 2, respectively. The section A,Fig 1comprises a body 10 formed fromsuitable material Vsuch as paperboard or thelike. The body 10 is normally scored longitudinally alongthe dotted lines 11 and 12 and cut longitudinally along the lines 13,14, 15 and 16 and transversely along the lines 17, 18 and 10ar so thatrespective portions 19 and 20 may be folded upwardly to provide lsidewalls.

VThe longitudinal cut lines 13 and 14 and the transverse cut line 10aare notcomplete cut lines but are interrupted to provide small ties orlands 13a, 14a and 10b, respectively, thereby retaining a panel 10cintegral with the body 10 until the carton is to be assembled. At thetime for assembly of the carton, the assembler merely ruptures theholding ties 13a, 14a and 10b to remove the panel 10c. The function ofthe longitudinal score lines on the panel 10c will be describedhereinafter. The cuts made along the lines 17 and 18 are made in themanner shown for purposes also to be described hereinafter.

The respective portions 19 and 20 are normally scored transversely alongthe lines 2,1, 22, 23 and 24 so that Arespeetive portions 25, 26, 27 and28 may fold inwardly after removing panel 10c to provide end aps.

The body 10 is crushed transversely between the dotted lines 29 and 30but line 30 is heavily scored to insure that a portion 31 to be foldedupwardly will be folded therealong and thereby forming an end portion.The end `portion 31 is heavily scored transversely along the dotted line32 and lightly scored transversely along the dotted line 33 and normallyscored longitudinally along the dotted lines 34 and 35 to provide an endportion 36 and ear portions 38 and 37, respectively. The ear portions 37and 38 may be folded inwardly 90 to form locking ears which lock overthe inwardly folded end aps 27 and 28 as the end portion 36 as shown inFigs. 3, 5, and 6 is folded downward 90. In order to provide maximumsupport for the articles and also provided a good edge for locking theear portions 37 and 38 over the inwardly folded end flaps 27 and 28, the'cuts along the lines 17 and 18 are made so that edges 27a and 28a ofthe end flaps 27 and 28 will just abut each other to provide a strongsupport for the articles when held in contact with the end portion 31 bythe ear portions 37 and 38, see Figs. 3 and 5. The edges 37a and 38a onthe ear portions 37 and 38 and formed by the cuts 17 and 18 lock the endaps 27 and'28 with the end portion 31 as the end portion 36 is foldeddownward 90, also see Figs. 3 and 5` The end aps Iand 26 when foldedinwardly, Figs. 3 vand v6, do not abut each other to provide a strongsupport for the articles as furnished by the abutting end flaps 27 and28. However, when filling the container, the panel 10c is detached fromthe body portion 10 and is inserted after the last article is placed inthe container to provide added supportfor the articles as shown in Fig.6. The panel 10c is crushed in the areas 10d and 10e and is'longitudinally perforated along the lines 10f, 10g, 10h and 10i; thepurpose of the crushed areas and perforated lines will be describedhereinafter.

The ear portions 37 and 38 may be folded inwardly 180 along the scorelines 35 and 34, respectively, as the end portion 36 is folded downward180, see Fig. 8. The edge 36a of the end portion 36 is adapted to lockin the crushed area between the lines 29 and 30.

The ear portions 37 and 38 are perforated along lines '39 and 40,respectively, to permit deforming of the areas between the cut line 17and the line 39 and between the cut line 18 and the line 40 by the areabetween the dotted 4 lines 32 and 33 as the ear portions 37 and 38 arefolded inwardly 180 and the end portion 36 is folded downward 180.

-Tire section B, Fig. 2, comprises a body 50 also formed from suitablematerial such as paper board or the like. The body 50 is normally scoredlongitudinally along the dotted lines 51 and 52 so that respectiveportions 53 and 54 may be folded upwardly to provide side walls. Furtherthe body 50 is scored transversely along the dotted'lines 59 and 60 toform portions 61 and 62, respectively, and to facilitate folding of thebody 50 in a manner to be described hereinafter and the so-fonnedportion 61 is normally scored longitudinally along the dotted lines 55and 56 to permitv respective portions 57 and 58 to be folded upwardly.

When preparing a container for lling, Figs. 5 and 6, side yWalls 19 and20 of section A are folded upwardly with respect to the body portion 10and the end aps 27 and 28 are folded inwardly 90, respectively. The endportion 31 is folded upwardly 90 so as to l-ie in contact with theinwardly folded end aps 27 and 28. The locking ears 37 and 38 are thenVfolded inwardly 90, respectively, and the end flap 36 is foldeddownwardly 90 thereby carrying the locking ears 37 and 38 over theinwardly folded end aps 27 and 28 to lock the end portion 31 and theside walls 19 and 20 in -their upwardly folded positions. The portions57 and 58 of section B are folded upwardly 90 from the portion 61 andsection B in this condition is thenv placed so that portion l61 liesabove and in contact with the body portion v10 of section A and that theupwardly folded portions 57 and 58 lie in contact with the side walls 19and 20, respectively. The container isflled from the end portion 31toward the end portion 62. As mentioned above, the container is to holda predetermined number of articles such as tabulating cards which areallowed to vary in caliper within specified limits. Hence the scorelines` 21 and 22 are made so that if all the articles were of a caliperof the specified lower limit, the articles would ill the container up tothe score lines 21 and 22. However, if all of the articles are of acaliper of the specified upper limit, the articles would fill thecontainer to marks 47 and 48 mad-e on the end flaps 25 and '26,respectively. The edges 63 vand 64 of the upwardly folded portions 57and 58 are brought to bear against the inwardly folded end v aps 25 and26 at the score lines '21 and 22 or along thelength of the end flaps 25and 26, respectively, in accordance with the position the articles havelled the `container by sliding the portion `61 along the body portion10. It is seen in Fig. 4 that when articles fill the container beyondthe edge 10a of the body portion 10, the portion 61 extends beyond the.

edge 10a to perform the same vfunctionlas the body portion 10. Uponfilling the container the panel 10c is positioned in contact with thelast article placed in the container, thereby protecting the articlesand providing a good edge for facilitating the folding of the end flaps25 and 26 when the articles ll the container beyond the score lines 21and 22.

As the panel 10c is positioned in contact with the last article placedin the container, the crushed areas' 10d and 10e between the score line10g and the cut line 13 and between the score line 10i and the cut line14 arefcaused to fold upward along the score lines 10j land 10h, and asthe end flaps 25 and 26 are folded inward the crushed areasaforementioned are folded along the scorelines 10g and 10i over thecrushed areas between the score line 10;c and a line `10j formed by thecrush operation, and between the score line 10h and the line 10k formedby the crush operation, see Fig. 7. By crushing the areas indicated thethickness of the panel 10c is not increased as one crushed area isfolded over the other. However, by folding one crushed area over theother, the articles are underhigh compression near their ends to bedensely or tightly held in the container.

With the end aps 25 and 26 folded inwardly over the panel c as shown inFig'. 3, the articles will be compactly held inthe container as theportion 62 is folded up wardly 90 om the portion 61 to bear against theend flaps 25 and 26. The side portions 53 and 54 are then foldedinwardly 90 to the body portion 50 which is subsequently folded downward90 along the score line 60 so that the edges 65 and 66 of the sideportions 53 and 54, respectively, lock over the inwardly folded end aps25 and 26 to hold the portion 62 tightly against the end flaps 25 and26, and consequently hold thearticles tightly n the container. It willbe remembered that the end portion 36 is folded downward 90 to lie overthe articles, hence when the articles are of maximum tolerable caliper,the body portion 50 folded downward 90 along the score line 60 willalways overlap the end portion 36 as in Fig. 4 thereby insuring that thearticles will be covered. This arrangement affords very goodv protectionto the articles in that the articles are tightly contained and arecompletely covered. Of course, the fact that the container isself-sustaining Without the aid of -additional binding means allows forquickassembly of the container.-

As mentioned hereinabove, the characteristics of the container may beenhanced for storage or le purposes. In Figs. 8 and 9 it is seen thatwing elements 41 and.42 formed in the side walls 19 and 20 bylongitudinal cuts along the lines 41a and 42a and longitudinal scoresalong the dotted lines 41b and 42b and transverse cuts along the lines41e and 42e can be pushed inwardly so that they lock with the portions57 and 58, respectively. The wing elements 41 and 42 in effect join thesections A and B to make a one piece container, thereby facilitatinggreater ease in handling the container when it is empty or partiallyfilled. Further if it is desired to store the container with the endportion 36 lying over the cards, Fig. 9, wing elements v43 and 44 formedin the side walls 19 and 20 by longitudinal cuts along the lines 43a and44a and longitudinal scores along the dotted lines 43b and -44b andtransverse cuts along the lines 43e` and 44e can be positioned inwardlyto lock with the locking ears to facilitate ease in handling of thecontainer when removing articles, since, -in the absence of articles inthe container the locking ears 37 and 38 could move inward toward eachother thereby reducing the effectiveness of their ability to lock theend flaps 27 and 28 with end portion 31. However, it may be moredesirable to store the container so that the articles in the containermay be inspected by merely pulling the container partially from storageby the facility of a pull tab 45 formed in the end portion 31 by theperforation along the arcuate lines `45a and 45b. In this instance, seeFig. 3, the locking ears 37 and 38 would be folded inward 90 and the endportion 36 would be folded downward 90. To provide easy identificationof the contents of a container, see Fig. l, a removable tab 46 is formedin the end portion 31 by cuts along the lines 46a and 4617. A tabulatingcard having identification of the contents of the container would beplaced between the end portion 31 and the end aps 27 and 28 in a mannerthat the identification marks would appear when removing the tab 46.

Fill marks 47 and 48 are located on the ap members 25 and 26 so that ifthe predetermined number of cards extends beyond the marks, there is anindication that the caliper of the cards is exceeding the upper limit ofthe specified tolerance and if the predetermined number of cards and thepanel 10c do not extend to the score lines 21 and 22, this is anindication that the caliper of the cards is below the lower limit of thespecified tolerances.

While there have been shown and described and pointed out thefundamental novel features of the invention as applied to a preferredembodiment, it will be understood that various omissions andsubstitutions and changes in the form and details of the deviceillustrated and in its operation may be made by those skilled in theart, without departing from the spirit of the invention. 1t is theasesores D intention, therefore, to be limited only the scope of thefollowing claims.

What is claimed is: v

l. An expansible container comprising a first rectangular panel, sidewalls hinged to the sides of said first panel, end aps extending fromthe ends of said side walls, a front wall hinged to one end of saidfirst panel, means for retaining said front and side walls in an upright position with respect to said first panel by locking said frontwall with saidend aps extending from said side walls adjacent said frontwall, a second panel hav.- ing two sides and two ends, side walls hingedto the sides of said second panel, a rear wall hinged to one endof saidsecond panel, a rectangular bottom panel hinged to said-rear wall toslidably engage said first panel, and side panels extending upwardlyfromthe sides of said rectangular bottom panel, one of the ends of saidside panels disposed to abut said end aps extending from the other endof said side panels along a line po. sitioned in the area definedbetween the end of the'side panels and another line spaced inwardly fromthefree edge opposite the edge connecting with the side panels, saidrectangular bottom panel beingwider than said defined area.

2. An expansible container comprising two sections, one section having abottom panel with two ends and two sides, an end panel upstanding fromsaid bottom panel at one end, the other end being a free edge, two sidepanels upstanding from said bottom panel and coextensive therewith, andmembers extending from said side panels beyond said bottom panel whichare folded inward'along a line positioned in the area defined betweenthe end of the side panels and another line spaced inwardly from thefree edge opposite the edge connecting with the side panels, the othersection having a top panel with two ends and two sides disposed to liefrom and parallel to said bottom panel, an end panel depending from oneend of said top panel, a slideable rectangular bottom panel extendingfrom said depending end panel and disposed to overlie said bottom panel,said slideable bottom panel being wider than said defined area, sidepanels upstanding from said slideable bottom panel, and side panelsdepending from the sides of said top panel adapted to lock saiddepending end panel and said side panels upstanding from said slideablebottom panel in contact with the inwardly folded portion of said membersextending from said side panels.

3. A 2piece carton of the type described comprising a first elementhaving a bottom panel with a free end, an end wall upstanding from theother end, opposing side walls upstanding from the sides of the bottompanel, and foldable end flaps extending from the opposing side walls;and a second element having a top panel spaced from and parallel to saidbottom panel, an end panel dependingly attached to said top panel, aslideable panel attached to extend from said end panel and disposed tooverlie said bottom panel, and side panels upstandingly attached to saidslideable panel, said side panels disposed to abut the foldable endflaps along a line positioned in the area defined between the end of theside panels and another line spaced inwardly from the free edge oppositethe edge connecting with the side panels, said slideable panel beingwider than said defined area.

4. An expansible container for packaging a predetermined number ofarticles varying in caliper within given minimum and maximum tolerancescomprising a first element including a rst bottom panel, a first endpanel and first side panels forming a receptacle open at one end, saidside panels having foldable end flaps extending therefrom, said end apsbeing folded along a line positioned in the area lying between thejuncture of the end flaps with the first side panels and another linespaced inwardly from the end opposite the juncture to accommodate themaximum variance in caliper ofthe articles; and a second elementincluding a top panel, a second as indicated by assenza endfpanelandasecondbottomtpanel disposed to' overlie said rst bottom panelratzftheop'en end ofzslaid irst ele.- ment and slideable relative thereto.t'ovfextendtthee'ectixiefl'ength of the rst'bottomi-panel, saidsecondbottom panelubeing' wider' than said ,areay and having'second:side panels, one. of 'the endsof said second sidepanels :being in:engagement with saidren'd iiaps.'` n

. 5 An expansiblelcontainer according to elai1n4further comprisingrectangular elements having oneside hinge'dlyl attached to theinner,surfacesY ofi' said rst side panels at a. position whereby thel otherside of said rectangular elements frictionally engages the upper edge ofsaid second side panels; v

6. An expansibl'e container for packaging aV predetermined number ofarticles varying in'caliperwithirilgiyen minimum' and maximumtolerancesA comprising a rst elementincluding av rst bottompanel, afirstl end panel and 'rstfsidefpanels forming a receptacle open at oneend,-said rst Aside panels having foldable end apsrex.-

tending, therefrom; a predetermined number of articles having aivariancein caliperwithin the rminimum `and maixmum tolerances' disposedwithinsaid first element andl extendingbeyond said open end, said endflaps 13eing folded at the outer edge of the terminalnarticlefex.-tending beyond the open end whereby one portion of vReferences Citedinthe tile of thisv patent l UNITED STATES PATENTS Y Goettsoh Dec. 4,1894 695,204 Goodnow Mandi, 1902 1,421,526 Miller July 4, 1922 1,755,693Keppler e Apr. 22, 1930 1,915,673 Iones June, 27, 1933v 1,992,087 Milleretal. Feb. 19, 1935 2,308,384 OBrieny Ian. 12, 1943 FOREIGN PATENTSGreat-Britain Pee. 9,1933V

